SOLAR By:Sara M., Briana E., Ashley R., and Caitlin H.

Cited Sources

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy**
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule#SI_multiples**
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_charger**
**http://videos.howstuffworks.com/energy-conversion-devices-ecd-ovonics-/660-solar-power-comeback-video.htm**
**http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Panels/Solar-Panels-by-the-Pallet/c1067/**
(see Home page for MLA citation generator)

Solar Energy: Is the radiant light and heat that comes from sun.

What is solar energy?

Solar energy has been used by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar energy is one of the resources that not alot of people use. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used. The total energy that is absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, ocean, and land masses is approximately 3,850,000 **exajoules** (ej) per year

This is a picture of a sun with glasses

Turning solar energy into electrical energy

Solar energy is transformed into electrical energy by a series of steps. First the sun's rays are collected in a solar panel. Second the energy collected from the solar panel is transfered to a battery charger controller. Then the energy from that is going to be going to a battery. Lastly the energy is transfered to a DC loader. After going through all those steps you now have electrical energy that came from the sun.

This picture shows the steps on how solar energy can be converted into electrical energy.

Advantages of using solar energy instead of fossil fuels.

Some advantages of using solar energy instead of fossil fuels is it is much cleaner than fossil fuels because we don't have to burn coal which pollutes our Earth. It is also a renewable resource so we can keep using it but with fossil fuels once we use it, it can't be reused. Also, the sun is always there unlike fossil fuels, as before once we use them, they can't be replaced. Fossil fuels give off carbon dioxide so solar energy is a cleaner way of producing energy.

This picture shows how solar energy uses less then coal and trees.

Click here to watch a video

Disadvantages of using solar energy

You may think that solar energy is cleaner and free. Well your right about the cleaner part, but not the free part. Solar panels can cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Here is a link that shows how much solar panels actually cost, click here. The reason why they cost so much is because we haven't found the technology to really use solar energy. Also solar energy insulation requires a large amount of space. Another disadvantage is that solar energy is only usefull when the sun is shining.

More people should be using solar energy because in this picture it shows that coal is overpowering solar energy.

How solar is in are every day lifes
You can find solar energy in every day life like solar powered lamps, water heating, .These solar powered items can help our world and keep it clean. Also they have solar powered stoves and solar powered appliances that we use in our everyday lives. At our school we have a solar panel right in front of our school. In that way our school can save energy because we are using the suns energy to make electrical energy.

This is a picture of solar powered lamps on the side of the street.
Do you think that solar energy will work for you?

This is funny!

Energy Facts

Order from highest energy usage to least.

	Fraction	Decimal	Percent
United States	3,892,000,000,000 17,154,402,852,000	.2269	23%
Russia	985,200,000,000 17,154,402,852,000	.057	6%
Brazil	402,200,000,000 17,154,402,852,000	.023	2%
Ireland	25,670,000,000 17,154,402,852,000	.001	1%

Country	Population	Energy Use Per Person
United States	307,212,123	12670 kw per person
Russia	140,041,247	7035 kw per person
Brazil	198,739,269	2024 kw per person
Ireland	4,203,200	6107 kw per person